Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva are Detroit Pistons. Gordon's deal is apparently 5 years 55 million and Villanueva is getting 5 years 35 million. Gordon at 26 years young is the obvious prize here with his impressive playoffs (24.0 ppg and several clutch plays) and deserved billing as "instant offense." 11 million a season is by no means an overpay for the services of a player of his type especially since his theoretical prime is still some years off. Consider 13.6 million for Larry Hughes 10.1 mill for Dampier, 16 mill for Zach Randolph! 23.2 million for T-Mac!!! OK not all of those are fair comparisons, but still Gordon's Contract is reasonable value for locking in a young prolific scorer. I wonder what this deal means for Rip Hamilton...two 2 guards who could both start? The time for Gordon to be satisfied heating it up off the bench is over and Rip managed to get butt hurt enough over the starting of Allen Iverson that Michael Curry got fired! I presume that the only solution is a Rip Hamilton trade of some kind. Hopefully for a center since the Pistons have no centers on their roster.
OK so now Charlie Villanueva. Let's face it he's not super tight or anything. In fact there is absolutely no mystery to him, his "break out" year last year was 16 points and 7 rebounds shooting .447 from the field. So basically he is a 25 year-old, 6' 11'' scoring forward, nothing spectacular but most teams (including the Pistons) could use one. So if we agree that he is what he is the question really is what is the value of his deal: 7 million a season. 7 million is certainly a raise from his 3.4 million and I think Joe D probably reached a bit with the offer. I'm guessing he was heavily motivated to do so because the D had no front court. But still 7 million is not a a huge commitment. 7 mill is in the ballpark of what the Shane Battiers, Mike James, Matt Harprings, Jared Jeffries, and Udonis Haslems (including the price of a whole new udonis haslem) make in this league. Basically guys that have something specific to contribute and thus competition for their services usually brings their salary slightly above the mid-level exception (5.6 millish). Who knows maybe Villanueva will grow to exceed the value of his contract. He is only 25 and as you can see he has no eyebrows because of his allopecia. Having no eyebrows will keep him agile as he matures into his prime, after all we saw how Sczerbiak's jumper fell off as he started getting weighted down by his brows later in his career. In any case Gordon and eyebrow have signed for a total of 2 million less than the Pistons were paying Allen Iverson. Now all they need is someone to coach the team (Doug Collins Doug Collins no whammies) "Both teams played hard...goodnight and godbless."
Just wow... what a waste of their cap room
ReplyDeleteBen Gordon will be the best post-shot crotch-grabber that Detroit has seen since Vinnie Johnson. You heard it here first.
ReplyDeleteWell, this would have been a savvy fantasy move last year. In fact, I did make part of this move, adding Villanueva was a key part of my almost knocking off the younger Bejjani and taking the crown. Except, he was a waiver wire pickup for me...
ReplyDeleteI think Ben Gordon will fit right into the Pistons team culture of somewhat surly, arrogant players who are not as good as they act like they are.
So...goodnight and godbless
Overrated players, but Gordon was clutch against the C's. They'll guarantee the Stones comfortably finishing 5th-8th in the east for the next few years.
ReplyDelete